Media
planning is an exercise to find the best medium or combination of media that
will produce the best overall effect relative to the needs of the advertised
brand. Media planning in general should involve optimum benefits in the long
run. The media mix, in terms of balance of usage for TV, radio and print media
or other types of media vehicles, should be such that the best utility of the
advertising budget is obtained, and duplication of audience is avoided as far
as possible.
There
is no single best media strategy that is applicable in varied situations or
sometimes even in similar situations.
Media
strategies also differ because of changing situations. For example, the state
of the economy changes just as consumers‟
tastes change. Advertisements for luxurious cars would therefore not be effective
during times of economic depression. Similarly, advertisements about blue
jeans, when jeans are not in fashion, would not have much impact. To select the
right media and to search the right target audience for a desired response the
advertiser or his advertising agency should go for a systematic media planning.
STEPS
IN MEDIA PLANNING
The
following are the steps in media planning:
1. Decide Target Market : It is necessary to decide specific market where planned
efforts can be directed.
2. Media Objectives : Media objectives are often stated in term of reach,
frequency, gross rating points and continuity.
(a) Reach :
It refers to the number of different persons or household exposed to a
particular media schedule at least once during a specific time period.
(b) Frequency :
It refers to the number of times within the specified time period that an
average person or household is exposed to message.
(c) Gross Ratings Points : It refers to the total weight of a media effort in
quantitative terms. GRP‟s
are equal to each multiplied by average frequencies. E.g. 80% of the homes
watch TV and they are exposed on average 2.5 times within the 4 week period. The
total impact or GRP‟s = 80 ×
2.5=200.
(d) Continuity :
It refers to the timing of the media insertions.
3. Selection of Media Types :
Every
media plan requires that specific media types to be selected. There are a
number of advertising media available to the advertiser for advertising the
goods etc. These may be grouped under the following heads:
1. Press Advertising Media - (a) Newspapers and (b) Magazines and Journals.
2.
Outdoor or Mural Advertising Media - (i) Posters, (ii) Advertising Boards,
(iii) Sandwich Boards, (iv) Electric Display, (v) Vehicular, (vi) Sticker, and
(vii) Sky Writing.
3. Direct Mail Advertising Media - (i) Circulars, (ii) Price-lists, (iii) Booklets,
(iv) Leaflets, and Folders, (v) Business Reply Envelops and Cards, (vi) Gift
Novelties, and (vii) Personal Letters.
4. Broadcast Advertising Media - (a) Radio, (b) Television
5. Promotional Advertising Media - (i) Window Display, (ii) Show- Room,
(iii) Exhibitions and Fairs, (iv) Interior Display, (v) Trade Shows, (vi)
Samples, Coupons and Premiums etc.
6. Miscellaneous Advertising Media - (a) Cinema and Cinema Slides, (b)
Speciality Advertising, (c) Purchase Point Advertising, and (d) Video
Advertising etc.
4. Selecting Specific Media Vehicle : Once a decision is made on media types,
specific media vehicles within each medium must be chosen.
Media Mix:
Once the media selection is decided upon, the next step is to determine the mix
of the media one must use. This will be arrived at by considering the
advertising company‟s
marketing objectives, its target market, media characteristics, and its
matching with the target market. The overall advertising budget also influences
the nature of such mix, in addition to the available audience. For example, to
achieve certain advertising objectives, one may require to use a mix of 50%
newspaper, 25% magazine and the rest 25% television. However, more than one mix
may fulfil the advertising objectives, and yet be within the overall budget
cost. But one should aim at balanced mix. Some advertisers prefer to
concentrate on one media type mix whereas others like to have a widely varied
mix. While the former offers the advertiser an opportunity to make a great
impact on a specific market segment, the latter, being an assortment of media, can
deliver different messages about the same product in different market segments
more effectively.
Media Buying :
The specialist who is the counter part of the media sales representative is the
media buyer. Most of these specialists work for advertising agencies, although
some are retained by advertisers and some work for firms of media specialists
who offer media buying services to both advertising agencies and advertisers.
Media buying service is likely to be more personal and direct.
The
media buying specialist helps to decide what media should be used for a
product, purchases the media, and controls and evaluates the performance of the
media purchased. There is growth of
Media Buying Units (MBUs) throughout the world. Advertising Agencies merge and
form a group and then set up an independent MBU to buy advertising space. The
MBU benefits not only the advertising agencies, and the advertisers because of
cost-effective rates, but also the media sellers. The media sellers can
negotiate for rates, with one media buying unit on behalf of a group of ad
agencies.
5. Allocation of Funds : The planner should than decide on the amount of funds
that would be allocated to each media type and vehicle.
6. Media Scheduling
: Media scheduling could be used depending upon the requirements of the
advertisers.
MEDIA-VEHICLE CHOICE
After
indemnifying the various advertising medias, as available for a company, the
subsequent managerial task is to evaluate each media vehicle against certain
criterion and then only to decide which of the particular vehicles are suitable
for him. For such a decision, he has to evaluate the available media vehicles against
certain criterion. The major vehicle evaluation criterion are as follows:
1. Coverage:
It is the most important and powerful criterion for evaluating vehicle media.
Coverage refers to the number and spread message outlets provided by the media
vehicle. When the media vehicle provides large coverage, the changes of message
exposure to customers is also greater. Thus a media vehicle providing larger
coverage should be more acceptable. For example, in case of a newspaper, the
coverage refers to the circulation of that particular newspaper. But this is
not enough. We must also consider other criteria which are as follows.
2. Consumer Confidence: It is also an important criterion for evaluating the
selection of a vehicle media. Consumer confidence refers to the credibility of
media in the mind of target customers. It is a relevant criterion for
evaluating a media vehicle since the credibility of advertising message is
positively related to the media vehicle’s credibility. For example, a recent
study in India revealed that newspapers and magazines are considered to be the
most credible of all media, scoring high on usefulness and information.
3. Reach
: Reach as an evaluation criterion refers to the vehicle’s access to different
homes or individuals over a given period of time. In case of press media, it is
indicated by readership which is arrived at by multiplying circulation of the
paper with the average number of readers per copy.
4. Cost
: Cost is also an important criterion against which each media vehicle choice
should be evaluated. Cost refers to the money spent on using a particular
vehicle media. In order to make a decision, it is suggested that the advertiser
should make out an inter-vehicle cost comparison.
5. Timing :
The last but also equally important criterion for evaluating vehicle media
choice is the timing of advertisement. The reasons for the importance of the
decision may be two-fold - (i) Seasonalability of product sales, and (ii)
staggered effects of advertising. The advertiser should, after considering
these two elements, decide on the scheduling of advertisements to improve the
effectiveness.
SIGNIFICANCE OF REACH,
FREQUENCY AND CONTINUITY IN MEDIA PLANNING
Media
planning means devising a programme in such a manner as to optimally use the
advertising space, the broadcast time, or other advertising media, in exposing
an advertiser’s message to potential consumers. There are basically three concepts
that are generally incorporated in most planning processes:
(a) Reach
: Advertisers are mainly interested in the percentage of the total market that
they can reach their messages through the media in a given area of coverage.
Reach refers to the total number of households that will be exposed to a
message through a particular media vehicle over a set period of time. This
period of time may vary from advertiser to advertiser, but generally, four weeks
is considered adequate for calculation purposes. Reach is usually expressed as
a percentage of the total number of households in a prescribed area that have
been exposed to the advertising message. For example, if there are a total
number of 1000 households and 200 of these have been exposed to the message
then the reach is calculated to be one-fifth or 20 per cent.
(b)Objectives of Greater Reach : The purpose of reach is optimal exposure.
The idea behind the strategy for greater reach is that the advertisement be
received by as many people as possible in the first instance.
A strategy for
greater reach would be desirable under the following circumstances :
1.
When a new product is introduced the idea is to initially expose the product to
as wide an audience as possible, irrespective of whether they immediately
remember the product or not.
2.
When introducing a new use for the product in order to expand its share of the
market. If a product is already known but a new aspect of the product needs to
be advertised, then greater reach is desirable. For example, if a well
established brand of toothpaste adds mouthwash ingredients to it, it would call
for greater reach so as to inform a wide audience about this additional feature.
3.
When seeking to increase the recognition of the company through a campaign or
to promote the image of the company. For example, the advertising campaigns for
Godrej made the name of the Godrej Company, a household name for quality and
variety of product.
4.
When the creative message is so dramatic that most people will react to it and
retain the message after only the first exposure. For example, when a famous
film star is promoting a product or when the message is unique, eye-catching,
attention getter, then reach becomes more important than the frequency.
(b) Frequency :
Frequency is the average number of times in a give period that each person has
been exposed among the target audience by the brand’s advertising. If the
message reaches the audience by the brand’s advertising. If the message reaches
the audience just once, is it enough to influence their buying or should they
be exposed to the message more than once in order to reinforce the message? If
so, then how many times should a household be exposed to the same message?
Thus, frequency refers to the number of exposures to the same message that each
household supposedly receives. Since the frequency may differ for different
sets of households, an average frequency is calculated by the following formula
:
Average frequency = Total exposures for all households Reach
If
the total number of exposures is 400 and the reach is 50 then the average
frequency is 8. This means that the average household is exposed to the same
message eight times.
Objectives
of Greater Frequency: Frequency primarily means repetition of the same message
and the objective of greater frequency is to promote interest and desire for
the product on a continuous basis instead of a simple awareness. Even though frequency
is achieved at the expense of reach, it is advisable to go for frequency under
the following situations:
1.
When the competitor is using high frequency to reach the same segment of the
market. For example, in the case of soap and detergent commercials, a
competitor has a distinctive edge, if he continuously reinforces the quality
and utility of his product in the customers minds by repeated advertisements.
This offensive can only be countered by frequency of advertising rather than
reach.
2.
When a reaction is desired within a limited time period. For example, a sale on
for just one week would necessitate advertising the same message on the radio
or TV repeatedly or in daily newspapers every day. Continuous repetition of a
message that includes the warning „sale ends on Friday‟, provides a sense of urgency. Similarly,
the message accompanied by „first come, first served‟ would excite more immediate sales for a
given product.
3.
When the message is not easy to remember, for example, if the advertising
message consists of prolonged explanation of the product’s features, then the
audience should be exposed to the message a number of times so that people
become aware of all aspects of the product.
4.
If the product or brand is not sufficiently differentiated from products and
brands of competitor. For example, a distinctive brand of Maruti of Premier can
does not necessarily require greater frequency. But a specific brand of soap or
toothpaste that does not have any distinguishing characteristics does require
greater frequency.
(c) Continuity:
The message should be relayed continuously to the potential households. A long
period of abstinence from advertising (that is, lack of exposure) will
jeopardize the
advertisement
investment of the firm. It is necessary to have a continuous programme of
advertising. When customers continue to hear about the product and the company
at the time of „need.‟ Continuity
has a cumulative effect of advertising on the customer. Continuity refers the
length of time the advertisement runs, or whether it is periodic.
1.
“Media planning is an exercise to find the best medium to produce the overall
effect related to the advertised brand.”
Discuss.
2.
Explain the following vehicle evaluation criterion:
a.
Coverage
b.
Reach
c.
Timing
3.
Define the following terms:
a.
Media Buying
b.
Media mix
c.
Continuity
d.
Reach
e.
Frequency
ZIPPING AND ZAPPING
Meaning :We can trace the concept of zipping
and zapping to the era of VCRs and remote controls, each of these devices
brought a change not only in the TV viewing habit but also led to a proliferation
in the number of TV channels. When VCRs launched they also introduced time
shifting viewing pattern and the remote control helped evolve TV viewing beyond
a family setting. By the 1960s TV sets were cheap enough to afford more than
one per household and with that it also brought about the beginning of different
channels that catered to more varied taste. The remote control made it easier
for the viewers to zap through commercials i.e. viewers could now change
channels during the commercials thereby avoiding ads. Some experts argue, ad
avoidance was in
existence
even before the remote, people would leave the room during the commercial
break. DVRs also cause similar concerns, how attentive are the viewers to the
ads, if at all? But time shifting helps find new audiences as well, people who
otherwise would have missed the show. VCRs gave viewers more control, and so do
DVRs that have helped viewers watch more of programming they like, i.e. they
are therefore more likely to be engaged hence more willing to pay attention.
However, we are still not addressing the problem of ad avoidance behaviour.
Could Game play Combat
TV Ad Zapping and Zipping
Game
play during commercials may be an effective way to get more people to pay
attention to sponsored ads on broadcast television. Interestingly, it is very
rare to see any type of contest or game-like promotion to reward people for
watching commercials, even though that behavior is highly desirable to
broadcast advertisers.
Can
game play be used as incentives for attentive T.V. commercial viewing? Could
games help television advertisers cultivate the interactive engagement and
motivation that lead to direct response after ads are viewed?
Are
commercial games rare because games were not effective in this role in the
past? Or is it because so many marketers assume any type of game has to involve
an expensive prize or legal consultation to make sure the promotion is on the
right side of gambling and lottery laws?
What
types of games would be compelling during live broadcast commercial breaks?
What issues would need to be addressed to prevent people who did not watch the
commercial from simply scraping the commercial contents from a web resource after
the actual broadcast?
Zapping and Zipping
Commercials into Extinction :
Since
the development of the home VCR, advertisers have been concerned with
zipping-fast forwarding through commercials during recordings of sponsored
television programs. Newer technologies have only increased advertiser paranoia
that television viewers are prerecording shows and then skipping the commercial
breaks. A similar concern was raised with the advent of remote controls which
let users change the channel during commercial breaks with very little physical
effort (zapping).
When
advertisers complained, the television networks produced studies that showed
viewers were already avoiding annoying or boring commercials by leaving the
room or otherwise diverting attention during commercial breaks regardless of
the remote control or recording devices. The general result was that big brands
had to make more interesting commercials or utilize product placement and other
clever ways to integrate ad messaging into television programs.
More
Watchable Commercials = More Expensive Commercials Commercial production values
are often very good. Feature film quality t.v. commercials are not uncommon
today and some commercials are enjoyable enough that they can function as short
form programming (these top-shelf commercials tend to go viral online too).
Many commercials have been episodic or featured some type of comedy skit to
keep viewers from zapping or zipping away.
There
are a number of advertising media available to the advertiser for advertising
the products. But not a single media can satisfies all the needs of various
time periods.
Media
planning means devising a programme in such a manner as to optimally use the
advertising space, the broadcast time, or other advertising media, in exposing
an advertiser’s message to potential consumers. Systematic media planning is
the responsibility of advertiser or the advertising agency. It is a proper process
which includes the steps like deciding target market and media objectives, selecting
specific media vehicle, allocating funds etc.
QUESTIONS
1.
What is Media Planning? Explain the process involved in Media planning
2.
What are the steps in Media Planning
3.
What are the Major Media Types? Explain in brief.
4.
What can be the Possible Media of Business Advertisement? Explain each in
Brief.
5.
While Making Media-Vehicle Choice (s) Coverage is but an Inadequate
Decision-Input. Do you agree? What other Decision Inputs are required for
Making Media Vehicle Choices?
6.
What is the significance of (a) Reach, (b) Frequency and (c) Continuity in
media planning?